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The Scroll

Sundown: Not Enough from Mubarak

Plus a J Street/Birthright controversy, and more

By Marc Tracy|February 1, 2011 5:38 PM|3comments
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Protesters in Tahrir Square watch Mubarak.(Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

• U.S. officials asked President Mubarak to leave sooner than the fall elections, and will likely continue to push for him to do so (as, likely, will the opposition). [Laura Rozen]

• The U.S. ambassador to Egypt has made contact with opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei. [MSNBC]

• Six Senate Democrats sent a letter forcefully opposing Sen. Rand Paul’s proposal to slash all foreign aid, including to Israel. [JPost]

• A synagogue in Tunisia was set on fire last night. [Reuters/Haaretz]

• The U.S. withdraws support for the unpopular leader of a top Mideast ally. It just happened to Egypt—could it happen to Israel? [JPost]

• Birthright Israel canceled a planned J Street-affiliated trip, saying it no longer does trips with organizations with Israel-related political messages. Well, except for AIPAC. [JTA]

Democracy: Is it coming?
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  • Yisrael

    Of course, Birthright didn’t say they don’t work with groups that have “Israel-related” political messages. That would exclude almost everybody. It exempts AIPAC because they don’t seek to influence Israeli policy, domestic or otherwise. J Street, on the other hand, tries to change Israeli policy from their comfortable Upper West Side condo buildings. Because they know better than Israel what Israel needs!

  • Eli

    AIPAC most certainly influences Israeli policy–it is, after all, a lobbyist group. The amount of money that passes through it is incredible.

    But I don’t think AIPAC influences Birthright specifically. I do think, though, that it even matters: Birthright is inherently political. It would be good for Jews to get J Street’s angle, a more conservative one, and an Arab one.

    I think Birthright missed an opportunity here.

  • Yisrael

    Eli — point me in the direction of AIPAC’s lobbying efforts to try and change Israeli policies. Good luck finding them.

    They are a US lobby that tries to influence US foreign policy. Not Israeli. It’s pretty simple, since “the money that passes through it” is US money from US donors.

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Sundown: Not Enough from Mubarak

Plus a J Street/Birthright controversy, and more